Purdue Purdue/Michigan Michigan Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Purdue coach Kristy Curry was so disappointed in her team's effort after last year at Michigan that on the plane ride home, she made her players write an essay about what it takes to be a good basketball player.

"You can write a pretty good essay in an hour-and-20-minute flight," Curry said. "They're so excited because they don't have to write an essay today."

If they did, the topic might be, "How good is Purdue's basketball team?"

The Boilermakers (12-3, 2-0 Big Ten) lived up their No. 8 ranking Saturday, avenging last year's loss to the Wolverines with a nationally televised 65-54 win. The victory was the fourth straight for Purdue, which never trailed in the game.

"This year we came in with a little bit of revenge" on our minds, Purdue forward Katie Douglas said. "We played a pretty good game, and that's all we can ask for.

"What won was outrebounding them, defense and free throws. We finally got to the free throw line in the second half."

After shooting just one free throw in the first half, the Boilermakers made a concerted effort to be more aggressive in the second half. The ploy worked, and they made 9-of-14 free throws and embarked on a decisive 14-2 run midway through.

Six Boilermakers scored during the run, which came with All-America candidate Camille Cooper on the bench in foul trouble. Shalicia Hurns led the rush with five points. She finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and made all five of her field goal attempts.

"When you're on the bench, you know that the person coming in for you is going to provide a huge spark, both offensively and defensively," said Douglas, another All-America candidate. "Last year's team, we didn't have that weapon. This year coach can look anywhere down the line and expect production."

Douglas, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, finished with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Erika Valek added 13 points for the Boilermakers, and Cooper finished with 12.

Reserve LeeAnn Bies had 15 points and six steals for the Wolverines (8-4, 1-1), who shot just 35 percent from the field and were outrebounded 44-26.

"We missed layups, we missed puppies inside to our post players and we took bad shots," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "When your two starting post players go 4-for-20 in the paint, it's going to be a rough afternoon. Thank goodness Bies came in."

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Women's College Basketball Scoreboard

Purdue Clubhouse

Michigan Clubhouse